Avanti West Coast delivers nearly half a billion pounds in social value across its network

• Report reveals Avanti West Coast delivered £470m in social value
• Intercity operator carried out 290 community initiatives over past year
• Over 2,000 young people reached through educational programmes

Avanti West Coast has announced that it has delivered nearly half a billion pounds in social value across London, West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and Scotland.

It was revealed at the launch of the intercity operator’s annual social value report that a total of around £470m had been generated over the last year. Of this, almost £300m was attributed to community-focused activities and local engagement, with 290 community initiatives delivered over 12 months – an increase of over 100 compared to the year before.

These included gardening schemes at stations; community fund projects; foodbank collections; coffee mornings; book share spaces and Community Rail Partnership (CRP) programmes.

The report highlighted Avanti West Coast’s commitment to inspiring future generations, with over 2,000 young people reached through educational programmes such as Feel Good Futures, which takes secondary school children on trips to inspire them to think about a railway career; and Springpod, a virtual work experience platform highlighting roles available on the railway.

Avanti West Coast generated a £3.6m of social value through its work with local authorities, politicians, community groups and industry partners to improve stations and transport connectivity. Key examples included investment projects at Coventry, where new skylights were installed, and Carlisle, where a new station pub has opened, as well as the integrated rail and bus travel scheme which serves Keswick and the North Lakes.

Supporting regional economic growth remains an important priority for the operator, who has a supply chain currently consisting of 70 percent Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), enabling Avanti West Coast to directly contribute to local employment across the regions it serves.

The report also highlights Avanti West Coast’s commitment to its people, with more than 3,000 colleagues taking part in over 100,000 hours of staff training collectively to improve their role and development. This was supported by staff wellbeing programmes, including Mental Health First Aid training and a roadshow of health checks.

The report’s launch event was held at the London headquarters of Rail Safety and Standards Board’s (RSSB) who facilitated the new Rail Social Value Framework. This was developed collaboratively across the rail industry and is being used by Avanti West Coast this year for the first time.

Rather than simply measuring activities after they have taken place, the framework provides a clear structure for aligning projects and initiatives in the report with agreed industry outcomes, helping operators understand how local actions contribute to wider sector ambitions.

For its significant contribution to delivering social value, Avanti West Coast’s has been shortlisted at this year’s Social Value awards in the Private Sector Leadership category, which it also won last year. The ceremony is being held on 3 December in Liverpool.

Andy Mellors, Managing Director at Avanti West Coast, said: “The West Coast Main Line is a key route connecting many of the UK’s busiest, vibrant and diverse cities and communities and we play an essential role in enabling economic growth and supporting social and environmental initiatives.

“We are committed to making sure that Avanti West Coast delivers a railway that is not only efficient and reliable, but one that makes a positive and lasting difference to the customers and communities we are proud to serve.”

ENDS